Portugal - Day 3 - Belem and Oceanarium

On Friday, November 28th, we decided to head to the small town of Belem for part of the day.  The weather looked beautiful, sunny and a little cold, but dry which we were all excited about!!!  Everything had dried off from yesterday and we were ready to explore!

 

This was one tree that we passed everyday - I love the roots of it.  A very interesting looking tree!!

 

This is the front of the Sao Cathedral now that it is not raining and I can take a picture of it.  :-)

 

This is the famous tram 28.  Trams were the main transportation back in the days.  Some parts of Lisbon the buses can't get into, so the trams are the only possible public transportation.  This is the vintage tram that actually takes you about every place you would want to see in Lisbon.  We didn't end up taking it because I told the boys their two feet work really well!!  :-)

 

This was a cool fountain that was in front of another church we passed by daily. 

 

We went down and caught the bus out to Belem.  Belem is about three miles from Lisbon and was the send-off point for voyages in the Age of Discovery.  Sailors would stay here and pray before embarking.  The grand buildings of Belem also survived the 1755 earthquake, unlike all of Lisbon.  This is where the royalty decided to live after the quake - in wooden rather than stone buildings.  The modern-day president of Portugal calls Belem home.

 

We started our tour of Belem at the Monastery of Jeronimos.  King Manuel (who ruled from 1495) erected this giant, white limestone church and monastery - which stretches 300 yards along the Lisbon waterfront - as a "thank you" for the discoveries made by early Portuguese explorers.  It was financed in part with "pepper money," a 5 percent tax on spices brought back from India.  Manuel built it on the site of a humble sailors' chapel where they spent their last night in prayer before embarking on their voyages.

 

Like most buildings in Europe, the intricate designs are breathtaking!  This is the south portal, Henry the Navigator stands between the doors.  This door is only used when Mass lets out or for Saturday weddings.  There was an electronic snapping sound that I wasn't sure what it was about.  I found out it was designed to keep the pigeons away.

 

The Manueline style is on the cusp of the Renaissance.  The space is more open than earlier medieval churches.  Slender, palm tree-like columns don't break the interior space and the ceiling is all one height.  This is the first church that we have seen this.

 

There are five tombs in this section of the church.  They alternate between tombs and altars.

 

This is where the priests preach their sermons.

 

This is the tomb of Vasco da Gama.  He was a famous voyager who prayed at this church before he left and spent 2 years and 2 months sailing to India and working out trading posts and routes.  He came back and they were greeted with all-out Vasco-mania.  The few spices he'd returned with were worth a staggering fortune.  Portugal's Golden Age was launched.

 

This is a view from the second tier to show the enormity of the church.  Everything survived the 1755 earthquake except the stained glass, which was finally replaced in 1940.

 

Next we headed to the cloisters.  It was really loud in there and we weren't sure why, then we looked over and saw this.  They were putting on a play.  Back in the late 1400s and early 1500s, Gil Vicente authored many plays and some of his creations were possibly presented here, in Jeronimos Monastery.  This play is about 15 different social types right after death and if they are going to Hell or Heaven.  The students that were watching seemed to be really enjoying it.  Unfortunately it was in Portuguese so we couldn't understand any of it.

 

David and the boys in the cloisters.  Look how small they are compared to it.

 

A good view of the top of the church.  Many monks often accompanied the sailor-pirates on their trading/pillaging trips, hoping to convert the heathens to Christianity.  Many expeditions were financed by the Knights of Christ, a brotherhood of soldier monks.  This was a time of extreme Christian faith.  King Manuel, who did so much to promote exploration, was also the man who forcibly expelled all the Jews from the country.  (In 1497, the Church agreed to allow him to marry a Spanish princess on the condition that he deport the Jews.)  After exploring the Monastery we headed towards the water.   

 

These are the statues of hippocampus.  There were on each side of the water, with a huge water fountain that wasn't on because it was so cold.

 

The boys and I with the monastery behind us.  It is huge!

 

Here is a little closer picture of the Cristo Rei statue.

 

This is the Monument to the Discoveries.  In 1960 the city honored the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator by rebuilding this giant riverside monument originally constructed for the 1940 Expo.  It is 170 feet high and shows that exploring the world was a team effort.  The men who braved the unknown stand on the pointed, raised prow of a caravel about to be launched into the Rio Tejo.  Prince Henry the Navigator is leading the charge holding a model of a caravel and a map, followed by kneeling kings and soldiers who Christianized foreign lands with the sword.

 

 

On this side behind Henry are the men who financed the voyages, those who glorified it in poems and paintings and, at the very end, the only woman, Philippa of Lancaster, Henry's British mother.

 

This is Belem Tower, perhaps the purest Manueline building in Portugal built 1515-1520.  This white tower protected Lisbon's harbor.  Today it symbolizes the voyages that made Lisbon powerful.  This was the last sight sailors saw as they left, and the first as they returned, loaded with gold, spices and social diseases.  When it was built, the river went nearly to the walls of the monastery, and the tower was mid-river.

 

This is a statue of Henry the Navigator built a little ways from the monastery.  After this we headed to find some lunch.  After lunch we were told by more than one person that we "had" to try the pastel de Belem.  This is the birthplace of the custard tart called pastel de nata throughout Portugal.  Since 1837, residents have come to the Casa Pasteis de Belem to get them warm out of the oven.  This place's popularity stems mainly from the fact that their recipe is a closely guarded secret - supposedly only three people know the exact proportions of ingredients.  You can get them in Lisbon, but the locals tell you these are the best, so of course we had to try them.  You put cinnamon and powdered sugar on the top and they were so, so good!!!!

 

Next we headed into the National Coach Museum. David thought it was about a bunch of purses, but it wasn't.  :-)  In 1905, the last Queen of Portugal saw that cars would soon obliterate horse-drawn carriages as a form of transportation.  She decided to use the palace's riding-school building to preserve her fine collection of royal coaches, which became today's National Coach Museum.

 

 

This is the oldest coach in the Museum from the 1600s and was one used by Philip II, King of Spain and Portugal.  Notice this coach has no driver's seat - its drivers actually ride the horses.  Also if you were able to lift up the cushion, you'll find a potty hole - also handy for road sickness.

 

This one was used in 1790 by Queen Maria I, a little more ornate than the first one.

 

These are the tunics of the Coats of arms, Portuguese.  They had the privilege of opening the royal processions.  The silver maces were used by the Gatekeepers of the Royal House.  And those are drums in front of the tunics they used in ceremonies.

 

This is a ceremonial vehicle Portuguese, built for King  Jose I, exalting the strength of the royal power, portrayed by an eagle.

 

The drivers' uniform worn during King Jose I reign.

 

This is an Italian Triumphal vehicle, one of the coaches of the Embassy sent to Clement XI in 1716 by King Joao V.  The decoration represents the Atlantic Ocean meeting the Indian Ocean (the two holding hands), reminding all who view it of Portugal's mastery of the sea.

 

This is a two-place transport, without wheels, pulled by two mules.  The mules were harnessed on their flanks to the fixed poles.

 

 

This is a single person one that is carried by people.  They started using these when the roads became too narrow for the horse carriages.

 

 Michael up on the 2nd floor looking down on all the carriages.  When we finished there we hopped the bus back to Lisbon and decided to head to the 2nd largest aquarium in Europe located in Lisbon, it is also said to be the second best aquarium in the world.  We thought the boys might enjoy it and it was inside out of the cold for awhile.

 

The boys out front of the Oceanarium.  This is the first aquarium ever to incorporate world ocean's habitats within a single environment.

 

The entry way into the aquarium - I love these turtles.  They also had sayings all along the way with interesting facts about the oceans.

 

The boys' first look at the biggest tank - they were extremely impressed with all the different fish in there.

 

A huge school of fish.  They try really hard to keep everybody fed so, for example, the sharks don't start feeding on the other fish in there.  They have specific spots for each type of fish where they are fed and they know if the higher on the food chain predators start eating the other fish that they need a little more food.

 

This is a fish I have never seen.  We deemed it the "ugly fish."  We had no idea what it was.  Luckily a little farther into the aquarium we were told it is an Ocean sunfish which is the largest bony fish in the world, reaching more than three meters in length and weighing over two tons!!!  This fish often lies on its side on the water surface to sunbath.  This behavior helps it to adjust the body temperature and it also allows birds to pick parasites off its skin.

 

Fish just chillin' on the side.  Looks like they are having a good conversation.

 

They had some great interactive, hands on exhibits that were in many languages.  They were all touch screens and gave the boys and us so much information.

 

You have to love penguins!!  They are so cute and cuddly!!!

 

Hey, it is Nemo's teacher!!!

 

The boys in the middle of the "tropical rain forest."

 

This is a Zebra shark who is a bottom dweller and slow swimmer that spends most of its time on the bottom.  Their skeleton is made of cartilage, which makes them very light and flexible.

 

Can you find the fish?!?!

 

Sea horses - they are so small and cute!

 

The boys in awe of some amphibians.  I love their expressions!!!

 

Can you see the frogs?!!?  There are two of them.

 

Michael and the shark decided to have a little conversation.  It seemed to go pretty well.

 

We had a great time watching these penguins diving and playing in the water!!

 

These are cool!!  They are sea dragons.  They are extremely well camouflaged for their seaweed habitat and so cool!!

 

This guy was HUGE!!!  You can see Michael off to the left and he was a little ways away from it.  Then it was cool because it went up on its back legs, almost like it was lashing out at us.

 

I love watching jellyfish - they are almost mesmerizing.

 

We found Nemo - now he just has to hook up with his teacher.

 

We all really enjoyed the aquarium and it was so well laid out, there were arrows that pointed you in the direction for you to go and it took you through and kept your interest.  They had points throughout that had the interactive exhibits and told you so much about it.  It even had a place at the end for the kids to do some "learning," or playing, or playing while learning.  All in all, it was a wonderful stop for all of us!!!  We really enjoyed it!!!

 

Then we headed back downtown Lisbon (the aquarium is a ways from the downtown) and looked for a place to have dinner.  We ended up at a mall with a food court and everyone enjoyed their dinner.  They had different lights, like these presents, up on every street.

 

This tree was down in the main square where we caught the bus.

 

Here is one with stars!

 

The boys decided they wanted to be a present!!  I told them they are my best present I have ever had!!!!  :-)

 

My boys down in the Rossio square.  It was a beautiful night and there were many people out.  We had our fill of walking and it was getting late so we headed back to the apartment for some rest before we head out for our final day in Portugal.